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<p class="style1">This section of the guide will show various steps to optimise
  your computer for low-latency ASIO recording.</p>
<p class="style1">ASIO (Audio Streaming Input/Output) is a universal audio interface
  API, and allows latencies down to 2.66 ms (latency of hardware synthesizers
  is around 5ms) for almost real-time recording. This is important if you are
  recording vocals, or instrumentals along with pre-recorded or synthesized tracks,
  such as a drum track. </p>
<p class="style1">The ASIO control panel<br>
  <img src="pic/desc-asio.gif" width="285" height="201"><br>
  This window is opened up inside your ASIO host software, usually in the Audio
  setup window, with a button called &quot;Control Panel&quot; or &quot;Soundcard
  Settings&quot;<br>
  1. The menu shows latency the sound card is set at.<br>
  2. This menu shows the sample rate the device is set at. IMPORTANT: This MUST
  by at 48000hz (48kHz) or you will not be able to record any audio.<br>
  3. This menu shows the current device you are using in that application. ASIO
  does not support multiple cards.<br>
  4. This button opens the <a href="mixer.html#route">kX Router Window</a>.</p>
<p class="style1">The hardware in your computer, ie CPU, RAM, Harddrive, all
  affect the lowest latency that you can use.</p>
<p class="style1">The optimal setup would to have the fastest CPU, most RAM and
  fastest/largest Harddrives available - but if you can afford all this you most
  likely can afford a pro-audio card. </p>
<p class="style1">But if you have an old Pentium III 500, with 256Mb RAM or similiar,
  you can still obtain low latencies. </p>
<p class="style1">To do this you must take steps to optimise your computer.</p>
<p class="style1">The first step is, if you have a 2 hard-drive setup, that you
  dedicate one to Windows, and the other to Audio Recording. Also if possible
  these hard-drives should be on seperate cables (without CD drives attached
  to the same cables) If you have to have a CD Drive attached to one of these
  cables, attach it to the Windows hard-drive. </p>
<p class="style1">The second step is to De-fragment you hard-drive, as this will
  greatly increase the speed at which data is written/read to the hard-drive.
  Try doing this once a week.</p>
<p class="style1">The third step involves opening the control panel and double-clicking
  on the &quot;System&quot; control panel.<br>
  <img src="pic/opti-cp1.gif" width="420" height="485"><br>
  Go to the &quot;Advanced&quot; page </p>
<p class="style1">Click the &quot;Settings&quot; button in the &quot;Performance&quot; section. <br>
  <img src="pic/opti-cp2.gif" width="368" height="462"><br>
  Select &quot;Background Services&quot; as the best performance options.</p>
<p class="style1">The ASIO API is Background service, and completing that step
  will allow for lower latencies, but may reduce perforance in some programs.
  I have been running like this for roughly a year and have not had any performance
  trouble unless i have too many CPU heavy programs loaded at once.</p>
<p class="style1">To test the lowest useable latencty, in your ASIO host, set
  the latency to the lowest possible (2.66ms). If you hear pops and clicks during
  normal use of the program, ie playback and recording., it means that latency
  is unuseable, as the sample buffer cannot be filled quickly enough. Raise the
  latency to the next level and test again. Keep doing this until you have found
  a latency setting that works on your computer. </p>
<p class="style1">Your computer should now be optimised for recording low-latency
  audio. </p>
<p class="style1">  <span class="style1"><a href="#top">Top</a> <a href="index.html">Index</a></span></p>
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kX Guide &copy 2004 by Chris Stannard, a kX
user. All rights reserved.